How to download Pokémon GO in the UK

How to download Pokémon GO in the UK

Released last week, anyone who is anyone has heard of the new Pokémon GO game, even if you’re not a huge gamer yourself.

The success of the games has been its own downfall, with the international release date being “paused”, as users across the US, Australia and New Zealand have sent servers crashing. It has been estimated that so far that game has been downloaded more than 7.5 million times in the US alone.

However, if you can’t wait until the official UK release, there is a way around it (just).

How to get Pokémon GO in the UK

iOS device

In the App Store app, scroll to the bottom of the app and click on your Apple ID. Then click “Sign out”.

Once you’re signed out, select sign in and then choose “Create New Apple ID” – we found this step much simpler by creating a new ID on a desktop here.

When creating a new Apple ID, you must select either the US or Australia as your country. You’ll also need to add an address and zip code… this bit may require some creative thinking (and Googling).

Once you’ve created your new Apple ID and verified it, open up the App Store app, scroll to the bottom and sign in with your newly created Apple ID.

Finally. Search for Pokémon GO in the App Store and download!

Once you’ve downloaded Pokémon GO, you can now ‘Sign Out’ of the App Store and sign back in with your old Apple ID.

If you’re an Apple Music user, you’ll need to follow one more step to get your music back, which may have been wiped when following the steps above. Simply go to Settings > Music > turn “iCoud Music Library” on and select merge. That’s it.

Android device

Downloading the Pokémon GO app on Android is a little more difficult, but it’s still entirely possible.

Go to Settings > Security and select the permission to allow downloads from ‘Unknown sources’.

Download the Pokémon GO APK file from somewhere such as APK Mirror. After downloading it, say OK to the warning message.

Finally, swipe down from the top of the screen and select “Install” for the Pokémon GO file.

There have been reports of malware being disguised as Pokémon GO files, so please do your own research and read reviews before taking the risk. Better yet, just wait until the official UK release date.